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Gone Retro—DxO Film Pack 7

DxO Film Pack7 is a program that enables the import and conversion of digital files to simulate the appearance of images made with traditional film emulsions.

I began dabbling with this tool the other day, which led me to look back over one of my 40 year-old photo albums, examining the aesthetics of my traditional images.

In the mid-1980s, I routinely worked with Kodak and Ilford B&W films and made 3.5 x 5 inch ‘proof-prints’ from my negatives by cutting 5×7 inch paper stock in half.

Here, I’ve scanned one of my original 3.5 x 5 inch prints, and for comparision also converted a digital file exposed last week (February 1, 2026), using DxO Film Pack7 software to simulate Kodak Tri-X and Ilford HP5.

The purpose of this exercise is purely about appearance and nostalgia. Although I’ve selected a retro subject (an old Budd RDC), the intent is to compare the aesthetic qualities of the the simulated black & white with my actual vintage black & white.

I wonder if the Nikon Z6 digital camera had been available to me in 1985, would I have chosen this camera over my stalwart Leica 3A loaded with hand-rolled Kodak Tri-X?

Handmade 3.5 x 5 inch proof print from a 35mm black & white negative. Conrail’s Sunday TV-9 rolls west through Warren, Mass., on February 3, 1985. The Sunday TV9 ran on a later schedule than its weekday counterparts. This was something of a ‘clean-up train’, which often carried ‘bare tables’ (empty TTX intermodel flats) as well as stray carload traffic along with cars of intermodal trailers. In this situation, a lone covered hopper trails behind the GE C30-7As followed by 40ft trailers on flats.
Back of the original proof-print, complete with my notation. At the time the GE C30-7A diesels were relatively new.
Digital photo exposed on February 1, 2026 using a Nikon Z6 and converted using DxO Film Pack7 to resemble an image exposed on Ilford HP5 black & white film.
Same image as above, but converted to resemble a photo exposed on Kodak Tri-X 400. It was this conversion that inspired this post. I have a lot of grainy high contrast photos from the 1980s that look like this one.

DxO has offered a discount to Tracking the Light readers. If you are interested in buying DxO Film Pack 7 or other DxO programs, the discount code “TRACKINGTHELIGHT” will work for 15% off for any new customer at shop.dxo.com. 

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